* European chipmakers fall on reports of halted shipments
* Huawei concerns offset ease in trade tensions
* Australian, Indian shares rally on apparent election wins
* Oil bounces after Saudi energy minister comments
* Graphic: World FX rates in 2019 http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh
By Tommy Wilkes
LONDON, May 20 (Reuters) - European stocks slipped on Monday
as concerns about an escalating fallout from a U.S. crackdown on
China's Huawei Technologies offset a slightly more positive tone
on trade.
Asian shares managed to reverse some of last week's heavy
losses on Monday, after the United States said it would lift
tariffs in North America, as investors cheered apparent wins by
Conservative incumbent parties in elections in Australia and
India.
But the mood did not carry over to European markets. The
pan-European Euro STOXX 600 .STOXX fell 0.1%, the German DAX
.GDAXI slipped 0.17%, while France's CAC 40 .FCHI weakened
0.21%.
U.S. President Donald Trump's government added Huawei to a
trade blacklist last week, imposing restrictions that will make
it difficult to do business with U.S. companies. The repercussions of that move became evident as Google
GOOGL.O suspended some business with Huawei. In Europe, chipmakers Infineon Technologies IFXGn.DE , AMS
AMS.S and STMicroelectronics STM.PA dropped sharply after
Nikkei Asian Review reported that German chipmaker Infineon had
halted shipments to Huawei. The company had no immediate
comment. "Market volatility continues to stem from announcements and
interpretations of what is going on in trade disputes between
the U.S. and its trading partners, but principally China," said
Jasper Lawler, head of research at London Capital Group.
"Whilst the latest headlines over Canada are supportive of
sentiment, a news bite which increases risk aversion could be
just around the corner. Investors know this and are on edge
right now. That won't change overnight. China are unlikely to
take Google's suspension of business with Huawei lying down."
On the positive side, a U.S. decision on Friday to remove
tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminium prompted Canada's
foreign minister to vow the quick ratification of a new North
American trade agreement.
The MSCI index of world shares .MIWD00000PUS , which tracks
shares in 47 countries, rose 0.08%. It remains some 3.6% below
its 2019 highs as the sudden return of trade war jitters sent
the stock market's strong rally into reverse.
U.S. S&P 500 e-mini futures ESc1 turned higher, rising
0.23% following losses on Wall Street on Friday.
Prominent investor Jim Rogers, who co-founded the Quantum
Fund with George Soros, told the Reuters Global Markets Forum
that he believed Washington and Beijing would soon announce a
trade deal, although the current spat would not be the last time
Trump tried to exploit the prospect of a trade war.
"These are negotiating tactics from Mr. Trump at the moment.
What will happen is we will have some good news, the market will
have a rally. It will probably be the last rally," he said.
OIL JUMPS
Oil prices jumped after Saudi Energy Minister Khalid
al-Falih said that there was consensus among the members of the
Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to maintain
production cuts to "gently" reduce inventories. Both U.S. crude CLc1 and Brent crude LCOc1 jumped more
than 1.1% on Monday, with West Texas Intermediate fetching $63.5
a barrel and Brent crude at $73.04 per barrel. O/R
Rising tensions in the Middle East, which have supported oil
prices, ratcheted up another notch on the weekend as Trump
issued new threats, tweeting that a conflict with Iran would be
the "official end" of that country. In currency markets, the Australian dollar jumped nearly
1% AUD=D3 after the centre-right Liberal National Coalition
pulled off a shock win in a federal election, beating the
centre-left Labor party. The Indian rupee also rallied after exit polls pointed to a
majority for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata
Party and allies. The rupee INR= was last up 1.1%.
China's offshore yuan CNH=D3 rebounded after touching its
weakest against the dollar since November on Friday. It last
traded up 0.1% at 6.9441 per dollar.
Sources told Reuters China's central bank is expected to use
foreign exchange intervention and monetary policy tools to stop
it weakening past the 7-per-dollar level in the near term.
The dollar slipped slightly against the euro to $1.1161
EUR=EBS .
Sterling recovered 0.3% to $1.2751 after suffering its
biggest weekly loss since 2017 after an apparent collapse in
Brexit talks in London. German government bond yields DE10YT=RR moved slightly
higher. That followed a fall towards new 2-1/2 year lows last
week after investors flocked to safe-haven debt.
Austrian yields AT10YT=RR held firm after a scandal
prompted Chancellor Sebastian Kurz to pull the plug on his
coalition with the far right at the weekend, raising the chances
of a snap election.